In this article, we will examine how Cramer’s opinions panned out on the 13 stocks he discussed 12 months ago.
During a recent episode of Mad Money, Jim Cramer offered his perspective on the day’s market rally as he delved into the impact of the ongoing dynamic between President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
“All day, I heard that today’s rally was just a bear market rally, okay? That it was a phony spike, and the market will go right back down the moment the president posts that there’ll be no compromise on tariffs. Who knows, maybe Fed Chief Jay Powell should be deported.”
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However, Cramer pointed out that the tone shifted significantly just after the market closed. In his words, “We get incredible news that is sure to drive this market higher.” The news came directly from the President, who clarified that he had no intention of firing Powell, a rumor that Cramer identified as a major factor in the prior day’s market slide. Trump’s statement, “Never did, never will,” regarding any plans to remove Powell effectively erased the cloud of uncertainty that had been hanging over the markets.
Given this reversal, Cramer questioned whether the rally could still be called a bear market bounce. In his view, it now looked like something more substantial. He explained that real recoveries are often mischaracterized at first. According to Cramer, they typically begin with what appear to be bear market rallies, short-lived, suspicious upticks that many investors brush off due to repeated disappointments in the past. He stressed that the early stages of genuine market turnarounds are often marked by disbelief and hesitation, with only the boldest or most reckless traders recognizing their potential early on. He added:
“Now look, just because the President doesn’t want a constitutional crisis and is going to keep Powell doesn’t mean we have more to go on. For example, there’s been no sign of change from the administration on the trade wars.”
Methodology
For this article, we compiled a list of 13 stocks that were discussed by Jim Cramer during the episode of Mad Money on April 22, 2024. We then calculated their performance from April 22nd, 2024, market close to April 23rd, 2025, market close. We have also included the hedge fund sentiment for the stocks, which we sourced from Insider Monkey’s Q4 2024 database of over 900 hedge funds. The stocks are listed in the order that Cramer mentioned them.
Please note that this article mentions Jim Cramer’s previous opinions and may not account for any changes to his opinions regarding the stocks that are mentioned. It is primarily an examination of how his previously provided opinions have panned out.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
13. Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 126
In that older episode, Jim Cramer discussed the negative sentiment around Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), highlighting its price cuts and internal turmoil. At the time, Cramer viewed Tesla as a struggling carmaker facing weak demand for its electric vehicles and compared its situation unfavorably to its traditional auto competitors, saying:
“When Tesla goes down it tends to hurt everything related. Today though, Tesla cuts $2,000 worth the price of three of their five models and its continued travails around layoffs and executive departures actually produced rallies among its big competitors Ford and GM. The takeaway here was that people still want cars; they just don’t want Teslas or even EVs in general. […]
Wall Street’s no longer presuming Tesla will have a miss, it is presuming they’ll have a loss. Tesla is feeling mighty like a car company with the wrong product line—electric vehicles—when everyone who wants one seems to have one already and there’s no new product refresh. Car companies get very, very low price-to-earnings multiples during these times.”
Jim Cramer did not get this one right, as Tesla has climbed 73.31% since those comments.
However, as the company has fallen sharply from his all-time highs from earlier this year, Cramer highlighted Tesla, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) recent pullback and gave his view on its upcoming earnings. Here’s what he said on April 17:
“Now, no earnings season is complete without Tesla. Okay? It’s kind of like Netflix. Yeah, great number, Netflix, no kidding. People keep talking about how Tesla needs to redefine itself as a technology company replete with life-size robots and a game plan for the national rollout of self-driving cars. Without that, this is just some struggling EV play. Elon Musk, bring on the humanoids. It’s their time. Give them a break.”
12. Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 45
Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) was brought up in contrast to Tesla in that episode. Cramer emphasized Ford’s strength in hybrid and combustion engine vehicles, which he believed consumers still wanted and praised the stock’s valuation at the time. Here are his remarks:
“The long story short is Ford has the best non-electric lineup, including hybrids, popular internal combustions, and yes, the F-150 truck line, the greatest selling truck line in history. And that’s where the money is going. Hey by the way, Ford’s one of the cheapest stocks in the entire S&P 500, even today. When you see that kind of action it means the market’s willing to buy cheap.”
This was another miss by Cramer as the automaker has fallen by 24.42% since then.
On the 9th of April, Jim Cramer analyzed the situation that Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) finds itself in with its manufacturing downturns and tariff uncertainty. Here’s what he said:
[Talking about an analyst downgrade] “Okay, so there’s a piece out this morning which really captures the zeitgeist of manufacturing. Ford, and it’s Bernstein, and they’re going to a sell, and they’re talking about tariffs, they’re talking about decline. Obviously, we’re going to be talking about a recession and how they do in a recession. And what it basically says is, wow, you know what, I know why this stock sells at four times earnings. And it’s a value trap.
And I think it’s a most unfortunate, because Ford makes the 150 here. It’s a great product. They do assemble. We were all told, major companies like Ford were told to do some assembling here. Ford played by the rules. And because they played by the rules, they’re going to be shredded. And I think there’s a notion of, well, is that deserving? And that maybe deserves has nothing to do with it. […] I don’t like Ford. I don’t like Ford because of the warranty issue.”
11. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 223
Cramer discussed NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) at length in that episode, reacting to the sharp decline in its stock price at the time. Despite short-term challenges, Cramer was still positive on the business fundamentals but slightly sceptical about the stock’s near-term prospects. Here’s what he had to say:
“Now listen to this. Don’t laugh. This company has lost more than $300 billion in market capitalization from the top, almost a straight line. It’s been as hideous a stock decline as any I can recall, frankly, down 10% alone on Friday. Nvidia’s going from being the star of the show to being the GOAT of the game and I’m not talking about the greatest of all time. Of course, we’ve learned from multiple pieces of research today that Nvidia – the business – is doing quite well. Now I think the stock finally got cheap enough to start tempting people. […] “I don’t know how much staying power Nvidia stock is going to have though tomorrow, because after the close tonight Cadence – a very close partner of Nvidia – guided down for both sales and earnings and that is surprisingly bad.”
The giant chipmaker has risen by 29.65% over the past 12 months.
Jim Cramer remains bullish as always on NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). Here’s what he said about the stock on the 17th of April:
“[On Huang’s Beijing trip] Yeah I mean look I know that and I had some talk . .becuase of my club where I’ve said I don’t know if you can still own it but don’t trade it. And not because this isn’t my favorite company and my favorite executive. But because of the erratic nature of the dual Lutnick and Navarro tandem about what we should be doing with semiconductors. I found that it was odd that he could just go and talk. Because we don’t really have that kind of relationship with the Chinese. This was kind of a Nixon to China trip. I don’t know what will come of it. I do know that if you watched Taiwan Semi last week, NVIDIA’s still very much in the driver’s seat.”
10. Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 262
At the time, Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META) was riding optimism following a House vote to ban TikTok. Cramer believed this was good news for Meta’s Reels product and saw renewed potential in the stock then. Here’s what he said:
“7,000 Representatives gave Meta and Google a lift by banning TikTok. We don’t know what the Senate will do, but it’s pretty darn good news for our companies. Now Mark Zuckerberg did a good job designing Reels; a viable TikTok competitor. He was involved with it apparently every step of the way, and that will cause his numbers to jump. So, I gotta tell you, that stock could be very interesting again, even though it reports this week.”
Although the stock has risen sharply since then, the past couple months have been rough for Meta. Overall, the stock is down 5.62% over the past 12 months.
In one of the most recent episodes, Jim Cramer was bullish on Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META). Here’s what he said on April 16th:
“Can I just say meta is ridiculously cheap? […] And I like that, but there’s nothing meta is… Meta’s our last bastion other than TikTok. It’s the answer to Mao. See, why doesn’t the president say stuff like that? […]
Instagram’s fine. Instagram’s great as a matter of fact. And Reels is just dynamite.”
9. Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 162
At the time, Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) was under pressure from investors who feared the company was reverting to its old acquisition-heavy habits. Cramer tackled rumors of a $12 billion deal with Informatica and used it to highlight how investor discipline had pushed Salesforce into a more shareholder-friendly posture, saying:
“Salesforce was talking to Informatica about buying the enterprise software company for about, actually, a little over $12 billion. Some argued this potential purchase price would demonstrate a lack of discipline and they got beaten up for it. Salesforce was going back to its old ways, spending like a drunken sailor. Turns out the deal is not happening. Company’s much more disciplined than the critics thought, so the stock jumped. Salesforce could have been crushed if it bought Informatica.”
12 months later, the stock is down by 9.47%.
During a more recent episode, Jim Cramer discussed Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM) and its recent pullback. Here are his comments from April 17th:
“[On Citi cutting MSFT price target] I know. Azure low end of the guide is bad. I know that CoPilot, you got that one man wrecking crew of Benioff [CRM CEO] coming out, trashing that all the time. Meanwhile, I had someone on my conference call yesterday, for the club, saying that they’re in the house of pain because of Salesforce. That’s been, it’s been a long time since you were in the house of pain with Salesforce.”
8. e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 35
When a caller asked about e.l.f. Beauty Inc. (NYSE:ELF), Cramer leaned on a recent conversation with the company’s CEO to support his bullish stance. At the time, ELF had been bucking the trend among other high-multiple growth stocks by continuing to rise despite market volatility. Here’s what he replied with:
“ELF is a high-multiple stock that didn’t used to be, and yet it was up today. But Elf is good, other than the chart pattern which is not that good. We spoke to Tarang Amin just, I don’t know, less than 10 days ago, and things are really, really strong. So I would like you to be in that stock.”
However, the stock has plummeted since. It’s now down by 67.89% over the past 12 months.
During a more recent episode, Cramer was asked by a caller on whether it was time to start buying e.l.f. Beauty, Inc. (NYSE:ELF) again, and Cramer appeared way more sceptical this time around:
“I’m so glad you asked me about this. This is at the fulcrum of what I’ve been working on. Elf has a connection to China, obviously that’s where they make their stuff, that’s why they’ve been able to undercut everybody else in price. Now all we know is that it’s up in the air of what’s going to happen with Elf. We don’t know what kind of tariff it’s going to pay. If we don’t know what kind of tariff it’s going to pay then I can’t spend $53 for that stock! It’s just not right. […] And that’s why I’m staying away from Elf, even as I think that everyone knows I think Tarang is a terrific CEO. It doesn’t matter; it’s out of his hands.”
7. The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 100
A caller asked Cramer if it was a good time to buy The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR), especially after their own personal frustrations with rising insurance premiums. At the time, Cramer not only endorsed the stock but praised Progressive’s advanced pricing model and leadership in AI among insurers. Here’s what he said then:
“Yes, the answer is absolutely yes. […] I will tell you this: Progressive is doing incredibly well. By the way, they are the most AI-oriented of all the insurers. Interesting, isn’t it? They price really, really well now.”
Cramer’s call was pretty accurate, with the stock being up by 23.83% since then.
Almost one year later, Cramer still holds firm in that opinion. When a caller mentioned that they have started building a position in The Progressive Corporation (NYSE:PGR) in February this year, Cramer once again said:
“I hear behind the scenes over and over again that they are the most AI-related auto insured, the best at pricing. I salute you for going with Progressive.”
6. Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 45
Jim Cramer analyzed Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) and the reasons behind its massive price drop at the time. Going over the company’s fundamentals and potential, he concluded that the main reason for the stock’s decline, along with other tech names, was purely due to macroeconomic factors such as elevated interest rates back then. Here’s what he said:
“All right, here’s one for you, how does a stock lose nearly a quarter of its value in a single session, as Super Micro Computer did last Friday when it plunged from $928 down to $713? […] As a matter of fact, I think they’re purely intellectually lazy thinking. There’s a simple reason Super Micro and its high price-to-earnings multiple have been getting hit over and over, because bond yields have been soaring. […] this is a market that’s become way more hostile towards richly valued growth stocks. […]
Super Micro’s become integral to the artificial intelligence people because it makes non-proprietary products that’ll help customers who are using Nvidia’s ultrafast chips. I wouldn’t put it in the same camp as Nvidia’s true partners like Cadence or Synopsys […] Super Micro, I put more in the Broadcom/Marvell Tech camp, as important ancillaries to Nvidia. […] In the end, the reason Super Micro went down had nothing to do with Super Micro and everything to do with the fact that interest rates are unable to find their footing. That’s what’s so important about this week.”
The stock is down by 56.82% since Cramer gave that analysis.
Super Micro Computer Inc. (NASDAQ:SMCI) focuses on the design and manufacturing of advanced server and storage solutions. On March 27th, Cramer gave his thoughts on why the stock keeps declining recently:
“Now what happened in the service side here that was actually difficult was Super Micro. They provide hardware, but they also provide services. They, along with Arista Networks and Broadcom, they were all part of the data center story that people seem to have cooled on.”
5. Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 144
During a long segment, Jim Cramer dove deep into the streaming giant Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), particularly its earnings report at the time. Cramer thought the company put out exceptional numbers but the market got spooked by the announced changes of how the company would be reporting its numbers moving forward. Despite the sell-off, Cramer’s opinion was that the market was overreacting and that Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) would remain a profitable growth story since. Here’s his analysis:
“We got to talk about the market surprisingly negative reaction to the Netflix quarter where the stock tumbled 9% last Friday. To me the quarter looked pretty darn good, yet the stock’s in full-blown correction mode here. […]
Netflix’s paid account sharing offering seems to be converting former password shares and paid users, their advertising tier keeps improving, and they keep putting out great content that resonates all over the world. […]
The thing that really spooked shareholders was the fact that starting next year-so important I got to get this right-Netflix plans to stop providing quarterly numbers for membership or average revenue per member, that’s what we used to live on, that was our oxygen. […]
I’m more inclined to side with the bulls than with the bears on Netflix because last Thursday night we had saw a company that simply doing much better than expected at its core business of selling subscriptions and quickly building a strong supplemental business of selling advertising. I bet the ad business keeps building and quarter after quarter and year after year which is a good thing; not a reason to go bearish. Most importantly, I see a business that’s becoming much more profitable than anyone could have imagined. […]
Netflix may have sold off hard because they’ll stop providing quarterly subscriber numbers starting next year, which does feel ominous. Actually, I’m not worried because this company has pivoted from a pure growth story to a profitable growth story, and going forward, profitability is what you should be watching. That’s why I’m siding with the bulls here and sticking with Netflix, especially now it’s gotten substantially cheaper.”
Indeed, Jim Cramer’s call on Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) at the time was spot on, with the company’s share price rising by 81.67% since those comments.
Jim Cramer talked about the company before its most recent earnings report:
“Finally, after the close, Netflix reports. Now, we’re lucky to have Friday off for Good Friday because studying the hydra-headed Netflix call requires a huge amount of time. I always leave a lot of time for it. See, each time it reports, management talks about the rollout of its ad-supported subscription tiers, and the darn ad business is incredibly lucrative. It is what still draws me to the stock. There was a time when the Netflix quarterly conference call was the most exciting thing that happens to us in this business. But the bottom line, that was before the election. These days nothing coming out of Netflix can possibly keep up with the endless drama from the White House.”
4. The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 108
A caller looking for a reason to invest in The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) sparked a humorous yet critical response from Cramer. Back then, he was bearish on Disney, particularly after activist investor Nelson Peltz failed to join the board which Cramer believed would have brought much-needed operational discipline. Here’s what he replied with:
“Disney just has been a one-way trip to the danger zone since Nelson Peltz was no longer involved. The stock goes down pretty much every day. I managed to sell a lot when Nelson didn’t get on because I felt that if Nelson got in that boardroom, we would have a shake-up and some discipline. I’ve been proven right. But I will give you this. I’d love to go to Disneyland. I’d love to go to Disney World. But my kids don’t want to go with me and I think it’d be really creepy if I went by myself.”
Jim Cramer’s call was pretty good. The stock has fallen by 23.23% since that episode.
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) was mentioned by Cramer again recently, where he explained how it was facing some risks in the current environment. Here’s what he said on April 7th:
“I mean, look, my charitable trust owns Disney. I was looking great. And now I feel like, well, wait a second, if it’s a big family and they have to pay $20,000 for five days, well, they are going to cancel. And the airlines are demonstrable about that. But I don’t I still think when you’re talking to people at home, do they sell Disney at $81? You know what? Right now, Disney could go to $70. I don’t know. But what happens if it goes to $90 two years from now and you sold it at $80 and you never got back in? There is a cost to not being able to get back in.”
3. Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 44
Cramer discussed Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE:GOLD) in a one-on-one with CEO Mark Bristow, during a time when gold prices were surging but gold miners weren’t getting any love from the market. Cramer pushed back on Wall Street’s skepticism, emphasizing Barrick’s cost discipline and long-term production outlook:
“In the last few months, the price of gold has just skyrocketed, but the stocks—the gold miners—they really haven’t kept up at all. Take Barrick Gold, the Canadian producer of gold and copper, that’s one of the best operators in the industry. While gold prices are up 13% year-to-date, Barrick’s stock is actually down 9%. That’s because Wall Street’s been very worried about higher production costs, but as I mentioned a few weeks ago, the stock is trading as though nobody believes these higher gold prices can stick. […]
I think it’s a heck of a lot cheaper to mine gold by buying back your stock than it is to mine gold by taking those big machines and getting gold out of the ground. […]
I stay a believer. I think that people don’t like the stocks sometimes—they love the bullion. Then sometimes it’s the other way.”
Over the past year, the stock has gained 14.20%.
When asked about it on April 21st, Cramer reiterated that he likes gold stocks, saying:
“A gold company is, I mean, I hate to just say this because it really doesn’t take a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, does it? But gold, I think, is going higher still. And Barrick Gold has a lot more room to run. I think it’s doing better. Like, you know, I wish they weren’t so far flung. Agnico’s doing better than they are, but I think GOLD is a good place to be.”
2. Upstart Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 39
When a caller admitted they knew nothing about Upstart Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) but were thinking of going all-in, Cramer offered a hard “no” and proposed another bank. Here’s what he said back then:
“Okay, this is a bank holding company that is artificial intelligence, and I’ve got to tell you, I don’t like it. There are so many good banks. Why not buy JPMorgan at a discount? I think that when you look at Upstart versus JPMorgan; I have to tell you, my stunning conclusion given the fact that you don’t know all that much about it, is that JPMorgan’s a better bank than Upstart.”
Jim Cramer’s suggestion was wrong however, with the stock rising by an impressive. 91.72% since then, even after a recent pullback.
Upstart Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) is a cloud-based lending platform that uses artificial intelligence to assess creditworthiness, aiming to offer more inclusive and accurate loan decisions beyond traditional FICO scores
1. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 166
In that older episode, Jim Cramer discussed Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by contrasting its investor base with Tesla. At the time, Cramer was cautiously optimistic about Apple’s future, even if near-term iPhone sales disappointed. Here’s his full analysis:
“If you just look at iPhone sales, we’ll most likely get a disappointment and a statement about further weakness. […] Still, I think the big institutions are looking to buy Apple even if the estimate cuts because they’re looking forward to those two events [Developer’s conference in June and the launch of a new iPhone in September] but I expect their interest will remain tepid unless the company can announce their growth in the rest of the world is accelerating faster than their business in China is shrinking. […]
Apple does make a lot of money; it just doesn’t grow as fast as we’d like. Some people say there’s no growth at all […] But those institutions who own Apple would never let the stock fall that low. They find some way to justify paying more than that price.”
Worst-case scenario Apple? You can buy Apple at $160 and then scale in. I would do it every five points, getting bigger as you approach the $130s. You know what, it’s always good to know the parameters of a stock; the stock that you advocate owning, and not trading.”
The iPhone maker’s stock price has risen by 22.59% since that episode aired last year.
More recently, Cramer is advising his viewers about the macroeconomic risks that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is facing due to President Trump’s trade war with China. Here’s what he said on the 17th of April:
“I just think that if you’re one of these, you’re gonna write a check, if the Justice Department allows you, to Apple and say, listen I want to be the only provider. […]
“Okay here’s what I’ve said about Apple. They’re spending 500 billion which gives them absolutely nothing other than the right to be able to build here in the United States which is the same thing that NVIDIA did. I will tell you this. I think that the stay [tariff pause] is going to turn out to be chimerical. I think it’s going to be chimerical. Because they’re so. . .mercurial and arbitrary there I think, and nothing means anything. They can say, well I just think they’re giving them a stay. You know, Lutnick comes out. If you remember the, the cadence, they get the stay on Friday, then Lutnick comes on Sunday talk shows and basically says well that means nothing. You know so I come back and I say, well what certainty do I have?”
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